BRUSSELS: Website owners are free to store users’ Internet addresses to prevent cyberattacks, the European Union’s top court said on Wednesday, rejecting a claim from a German privacy activist who sought to stop the practice.
Patrick Breyer, a member of Germany’s Pirate Party, had sought to stop the German government registering and storing his Internet Protocol (IP) address when he visited its web pages, arguing that citizens should have a right to surf the web anonymously.
website owners routinely store users’ IP addresses to provide customised features, enable or disable access to content or to blacklist IP addresses involved in “denial of service” attacks against a website.
German law prevents website owners from keeping users’ data indefinitely unless the data is required for billing purposes, but the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled on Wednesday that the prevention of cybercrime is a legitimate reason to store such data without users’ consent.
Websites free to store IP addresses to prevent cyberattacks: EU court
Websites free to store IP addresses to prevent cyberattacks: EU court
Dozens missing after boat carrying more than 200 migrants capsized off the coast of Gambia
- At least 102 survivors have been rescued and seven bodies recovered from the boat that capsized on New Year’s Eve in northwest Gambia’s North Bank region
BANJUL: Dozens are missing after a boat carrying more than 200 migrants on their way to Europe capsized off the coast of Gambia, the West African nation’s leader said late Friday, setting off a frantic search and rescue operation.
At least 102 survivors have been rescued and seven bodies recovered from the boat that capsized on New Year’s Eve in northwest Gambia’s North Bank region, Gambian President Adama Barrow said in a state broadcast.
The emergency services were joined by local fishermen and other volunteers in searching for the victims, days after Wednesday’s incident near the village of Jinack, he said.
Thousands of Africans desperate for better opportunities in Europe risk their lives traveling on boats along the Atlantic coast, one of the world’s deadliest migrant routes that connects the West African coast across Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania.
Many migrants seeking to reach Spain via the Canary Islands never make it due to high risks of boats capsizing. In August 2025, around 150 people were either dead or missing after their boat that came from Gambia capsized off the coast of Mauritania. A similar incident in July 2024 killed more than a dozen migrants with 150 others declared missing.
It was not clear what led to the latest tragedy. Gambia’s Ministry of Defense said the boat was found “grounded on a sandbank.”
“The national emergency response plan has been activated and the government has deployed adequate resources to intensify efforts and provide assistance to the survivors,” Barrow said.
Some of the 102 survivors were undergoing urgent medical care, the Gambian leader said.
As he condoled with families, Barrow vowed a full investigation and called the accident a “painful reminder of the dangerous and life-threatening nature of irregular migration.”
“The government will strengthen efforts to prevent irregular migration and remains determined to create safer and more dignified opportunities for young people to fulfil their dreams,” he added.
